Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-05-14
POPULATION AND FOOD.
REPUTATION OF THE ARGUMENTS
Of A MODERN Nautilus.

enutied standing Room Only" II showl
mat several countries in the world contain d
many people that they can scarcely walk about
w1tnout 1ostling each other. For example,
the statement is made that Java has 896 in
naoltants to the square mile, Japan 234, Italy
go, Belgium 481, and the Netherlands Sl2.
Inc author then states that there is hardly q
country whose population il diminishing,
while that of most countries II increasing
with wonderful il not with alarming rapidity,
This increase Of population Is largely due Ia
the absence Of wars and better sanitary con.
ditions.
Mr.. Knox thinks that e q time to study
the philosophy Of Nautilus, who held that
population, unchecked, increased in geomet.
rical ratio. while food can only be made to
increase in arithmetical ratio. He also argues
that checks on population are absolutely
necessary, n claims advantages for war,
pestilence, famine and most Of the destructive
vices. He states that few Of the countries In
which there is standing room only" can pro-
duce food enough for the inhabitants, and
shows by official census tables that tho mum.
Der of these countries II increasing very
rapidly. he predicts that our own will DO
added to the list Of o~verpopulated countries
in no very distant future. At present few Of
the original thirteen states produce food
enough to supply all the inhabitants. The
line that divides the states that do not pro
duce food enough for the people from those
that do is constantly moving farther west
70 CAUSE FOR ALARM.
This modern Nautilus has no cause for
alarm. 1 almost every country in the world
there is food enough and to spare. In nearly
every land food producers are discouraged
by o~verproduction. At one time farmers
found no fault with prices, but complained
because they could raise but little. Now they
complain of low prices, and find fault because
SO much is produced. English papers state
that there was never q time in the history of
the country when q days wages would pur-
chase so much food. During last year sugar
sold for a penny a pound, and many farmers
used it as a condiment or food for cattle and
pigs. Fresh behring's sold in London markets
for q halfpenny each, and the poorest labor
ers ate white bread, oranges and bananas.
During several months small fruits were 20
cheap that they commanded only q nomfna:
price, and some farmers and gardeners used
them to fertilize their land. Ono vessel
brought 10000 carcasses Of frozen mutton
from one of the Falkland islands, where IL
was bought for a penny a pound. Two steam
ship companies paid a penny a bushel for the
privilege OF carrying wheat in bags from
American to English ports, 20 that tho grain
OF civilization was cheaper In Liverpool than
in Baltimore. The price Of farm products is
SO low in Great Britain that the owners Of
several large estates declare that they can ~
alize more from them - game preserves than
as cultivated farms.
The truth is, the doctrine Of Nautilus 4 IN
exploded humbug. It was q plausible theory
at the time he wrote, but the introduction Of
machinery on farms, the use Of steam inagri-
culture, the Improvement in breeds Of ami
mails, the utilization Of products formerly
wasted, the new methods Of preserving fruits,
vegetables, meat and fish, and last, but most,
the increased speed Of vessels and the low
rates for carrying all kinds Of articles intended
for food, have produced a revolution and de-
stroyed the philosophy Of the pessimist Of tho
dinner table. We hear of coal famines and
water famines, but there are n food famine,
anywhere, and there is no prospect Of any.
FOOD PRODUCING CAPABILITIES.
We have hardly begun to test the food pro-
ducing capabilities Of the earth. A German
traveller declares chat Siberia is capable Of
producing grain enough to supply all western
JLuIOD0 WILL OIOdUs AL CAuklS0 AULQOClGY
states that wheat was worth but ten cents q
bushel in the interior Of Asiatio Turkey last
year, and that many farmers did not find it
profitable to harvest their fields The island
of Hayti is capable Of producing enough yams
and bananas to feed 90, 00O, 600 people. Hardly
any portion Of Africa except the narrow val
ley Of the Nile has been brought under culti-
walton. But an Insignificant part Of Aus.
tTalia has been devoted to the production of
food. South America, in the opinion Of
Humboldt, is the grand division Of the earth
capable Of producing the most food; still q
large portion Of it remains unexplored, and
no good farming is done in the parts that
have been longest settled. It could be made
not only tie granary but the stock yard for
supplying Europe with food. Wild cattle
are almost as plentiful there as rabbits are in /
Australia, and thousands Of them are killed |
every year for their hides and tallow. Sheep |
are raised with scarcely any care, and pigs
into the forests become fat on nuts and
wild fruit. No believer in Malthusian phil
ever visited South America.
By selecting breeds Of animals that mature
and constantly supplying them with
food, steers are made to weigh as
much when they are thirty months old as they |
formerly did at twice that age. By tho gen.
eral introduction Of the silo the beef and
mutton production Of this country could be
even if no more land was devoted to
fodder crops. Our countryman, Seth
Green, originated the expression "water farm
Ing" and demonstrated that an acre Of water
capable Of producing as much food a an
acre of land. Experiments show that German
.arp can be raised at about half the price of
The cheapest meat, and the prospect is that
most Of our small lakes and artificial ponds
will soon be utilized for the production Of
.ood the same as they are in China and Japan.
Food producers everywhere are crying for
more mouths to feed, so that they can get q
better price for what they raise. But the
is that the cost Of nearly every kind
# food will continne to decline, even If the
population Of the earth is doubled.-Chicago
Times.